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The Trump Presidential Records Case | The Epoch Times

Compiled by Janice Hisle

Former president Donald Trump said on June 8 that he had been indicted by special counsel Jack Smith as part of the investigation into his handling of classified documents.

The indictment is the conclusion of a years-long saga that started when the president moved out of the White House following the 2020 election.

The federal inquiry has led to the raid on Trump’s personal residence at Mar-a-Lago. The following is the timeline of the events leading up to the indictment.

2021

Jan. 18

CBS Miami reports that at least two moving company trucks are spotted at President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Jan. 19

Trump signs a letter designating Mark Meadows and others to be in charge of his presidential records. In a separate document, Trump also declassifies“certain materials related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.” That probe was launched in 2016 to examine possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, former FBI director, took over the investigation in 2017. In 2019, he concluded that there was no evidence that Trump or his campaign “colluded” with Russians to sway the 2016 election.

Jan. 20

Hours before Trump’s tenure ends, Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, writes his own memo about the Crossfire Hurricane records. “The Office of Legal Counsel has advised that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House,” he writes. Still, Meadows says, to avoid “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” he is returning “the bulk of the binder of declassified documents” to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and requesting a Privacy Act review. The Washington Examiner later reports that Meadows’ memo resulted in the DOJ blocking the records from release.

As the Republican president’s administration concludes, the Presidential Records Act requires Trump to provide all records from his presidency to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). However, a Trump attorney, Timothy Parlatore, would later publicly state that NARA, in its dealings with Trump, deviated from procedures used with several previous administrations.

Democrat President Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president, although Trump disputes the election results. He has not conceded.

May 6

Believing that records were missing, NARA requests records from Trump. It’s unclear why NARA suspected that records were missing; many events from January-May 2021 are redacted, or blacked out, in an FBI agent’s affidavit that was released in August 2022.

December

A Trump representative informs NARA that about a dozen boxes of presidential records had been located at Mar-A-Lago and that staffers were continuing to search for more.

2022

Jan. 18

NARA receives 15 boxes of records from Trump’s attorneys, following months of negotiations.

Jan. 31

NARA releases a statement, saying that some of Trump’s presidential records “included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump,” and taped back together by White House staff.

Feb. 9

The same day that House Democrats write a letter expressing concern about Trump’s records, NARA sends a referral email to the DOJ, stating the boxes contained “highly classified records” that were “intermixed with other records” and improperly identified.

Feb. 18

NARA sends House Democrats a letter stating that NARA found “items marked as classified national security information.” NARA also sends other letters, expressing concerns over the Trump administration’s apparent failure to properly archive presidential social media posts.

May 5

Breitbart news quotes Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official, as saying that other media reports about “classified” materials were “misleading” because Trump had already declassified the records.

April 11

The White House Counsel’s Office asks that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 Mar-A-Lago boxes.

May 10

In a letter responding to a Trump lawyer, NARA says that access to presidential records is generally restricted “for several years after the conclusion of a President’s tenure in office.” But federal law says that an incumbent president is entitled to past presidential records that are needed “for the conduct of current business.” NARA asserts that condition applies to the Biden administration’s request for the Trump records. The FBI cites “important national security interests” in viewing the documents. NARA also says an assistant attorney general advised that “there is no precedent for assertion of executive privilege by a former president” to deny an incumbent president’s access to records.

May 16-18

In all but one of the 15 boxes, FBI agents find documents with classification markings. Among the records, 67 documents were marked “confidential;” 92 records “secret;” and 25 records, “top secret,” the FBI  affidavit said.

June 3

In response to a May 11 subpoena, a Trump attorney hands over an envelope to NARA, containing 38 documents with classification markings, including five documents marked “confidential,” 16 marked “secret,” and 17 marked “top secret,” according to The Associated Press. Trump’s representatives attest that, following a diligent search, they believe no other classified materials remained at Mar-A-Lago.

June 4

Former Trump lawyer Timothy Parlatore appears on NBC’s “Meet The Press” and described the process that ordinarily happens with presidential records. Usually, the Government Services Administration transfers the records to a facility near the former president’s residence, then allows the president two years to sort out anything that is personal; the remaining presidential records are returned to NARA. Instead, GSA moved the records to Trump’s home–and then demanded that the records be returned immediately to NARA, Parlatore said.

June 8

The DOJ sends a letter to Trump’s attorneys, stating that “Mar-A-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information.” The letter also requested that the room that housed the documents should be “secured” and that all items in that room should “be preserved in their current condition until further notice.”

June 19

Trump sends a letter to NARA, granting access to his presidential records to two people: former administration member Kash Patel, who is also a lawyer, and news reporter John Solomon.

Aug. 5

An FBI special agent signs an affidavit, under seal, and a Florida federal judge agrees to issue a warrant allowing the search of Mar-A-Lago. (That record was released 21 days later.)

Aug. 8

In an unprecedented move, FBI agents raid Mar-A-Lago. The agents are divided into two teams: investigators and a team tasked with reviewing materials that might contain privileged attorney-client information. Agents seize 36 items containing about 100 classified records. DOJ says the discovery of that many records “casts doubt on the extent of cooperation” from Trump and his allies.

Aug. 9

Republicans react with shock and concern over the raid; Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) sends a letter to NARA, seeking information on the “escalation” of this investigation leading to “unprecedented” action against a former president.

Aug. 12

A federal judge unseals the warrant that allowed the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago; the document shows agents are investigating possible violations of federal laws, including the Espionage Act. Also, NARA disputes news reports claiming that records were missing from the administration of former President Barack Obama, Trump’s predecessor. The agency also later stated that The Obama Foundation “has never had control” over Obama’s presidential records.

Aug. 16

NARA responds to Turner, stating that the agency was not involved in searches for Trump documents and that the DOJ “has been exclusively responsible for all aspects of this investigation” after its referral to the DOJ.

Aug. 23

NARA releases a letter revealing that the Biden administration asked NARA to allow the FBI to review the Mar-A-Lago records months prior to the raid. The letter, dated May 10, was sent from NARA to a Trump attorney.

Aug. 30

The DOJ reveals new details about the investigation, asserting that classified materials were “likely concealed and removed” from a Mar-a-Lago storage room to obstruct the investigation.

Trump responds by stating: “Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!), and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see. Thought they wanted them kept Secret?”

Sept. 12

Trump’s lawyers state that there’s no evidence that Trump had disclosed the Mar-A-Lago records to anyone.

Sept. 15

At the request of Trump’s lawyers, a federal judge appoints U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie as special master to review the Mar-A-Lago documents. Dearie was tasked with weeding out records covered by executive privilege, attorney-client privilege or otherwise exempt from DOJ’s probe of classified documents.

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt posts on Twitter that Trump told him everything he took to Mar-A-Lago was declassified, and that he had done nothing wrong in connection with alternative slates of electors.  Trump predicts “big problems” if he’s indicted, touching off criticism from people who interpret that remark as inciting violence.

Oct. 3

NARA releases 11 pages of communication with Trump representatives and 54 pages documenting its contact with other agencies about the Trump records; about 1,500 pages are withheld, citing privileged communications with federal agencies, privacy concerns, and law enforcement investigatory information. The agency also would release additional records later in the year.

Oct. 11

NARA denounces “false and misleading” reports implying that records of several former presidents took records with them or that the records were housed in “substandard conditions.”

Nov.  2

Biden’s lawyers find about 10 classified documents at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy & Global Engagement, located at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Biden’s attorneys report the discovery to NARA. But no information is revealed publicly until two months later, well after the general election on Nov. 8, the first significant election in the midst of Biden’s presidency. The Biden administration’s acknowledgments of the documents would come after media outlets break the news.

Nov. 3

NARA contacts Biden’s lawyers to arrange to pick up boxes of Biden records from the Penn Biden Center, they learned that other records had been moved to the Boston law office of Pat Moore, another Biden lawyer, according to a letter NARA later sent in a response to Republican senators’ inquiries. NARA would later retrieve nine boxes of materials from Moore’s office, and additional materials from a garage where Biden stored his Corvette. NARA would also refer the Biden document matter to other government agencies.

Nov. 15

Trump announces his candidacy for president in the 2024 election.

Nov. 18

The DOJ appoints Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee two probes of Trump: the documents case and “whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote” on Jan. 6, 2021.

Nov. 27

Trump pushes back on Truth Social, calling Smith “totally compromised” and a “political hit man.”

Dec. 1

An appeals court rules that the special master’s review of documents must stop. The appellate judges say they cannot “write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant.”

2023

Jan. 9

The White House publicly discloses the Biden document concerns for the first time. In response, Trump points out the disparate treatment between him and Biden on his Truth Social platform. “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?” Trump writes. Biden’s records “were definitely not declassified.” The records date to Biden’s terms in the U.S. Senate and during his vice presidency in the Obama administration.

Jan. 10

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, writes to NARA, raising concerns about “political bias” at the agency over “inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records” kept by Biden and Trump.

Jan. 12

The DOJ appoints a special prosecutor, Robert Hur, look into Biden’s classified documents. Biden’s lawyers acknowledge that more classified documents were found at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, than had been previously reported. House Republicans raise concerns that other classified documents were found in a garage where Biden stores his Corvette.

Feb. 10

NARA releases records related to the transfer of documents from Biden’s time as vice president under Obama.

Feb. 24

Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson, leaders of congressional oversight committees, seek answers from NARA about the Biden records.

March 1

During a closed hearing, a NARA representative tells a House committeethat many recent presidents have mishandled classified information, according to testimony that was declassified weeks later.

March 7

In a letter to Grassley and Johnson, NARA says it has not delved into the Biden records, and that they were transported to NARA’s John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. NARA also reveals that Biden’s lawyers had begun reviewing the Penn Biden Center records on unknown dates in October 2022; the record does not state what prompted that review.

March 27

Grassley and Johnson write another letter, revealing that they had learned the FBI reviewed the Biden files.

April 12

After a series of shorter statements and records releases, NARA issues a lengthy statement disputing reports that NARA has been “untruthful” about its activities. NARA’s primary mission is to make records available for access, the agency says, adding, “NARA does not consider itself to be involved in the work of, or investigations by the requestors.”

April 13

In a response to Grassley and Johnson, NARA says its ability to discuss the matter is limited because of Hur’s investigation.

April 27

NARA denies that it “declined to provide archival assistance to President Trump’s transition team.” The agency says it provided similar help to “the three previous Presidential transitions,” adding: “The packing of boxes and transfer of records from the White House to NARA at the end of each Administration is always managed and controlled by White House and [National Security Council] officials,” with NARA’s help.

May 23

Trump’s attorneys ask for a meeting with top DOJ officials to discuss “the ongoing injustice” that Trump is facing under Smith’s investigations of the documents matter and Trump’s alleged interference with transferring power to the Biden administration.

May 31

Citing “multiple sources,” CNN releases an exclusive report alleging that federal prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of a 2021 meeting in which Trump reportedly acknowledged that he “held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran.” Prosecutors have asked grand jury witnesses about the recording, according to the report. A series of other media reports, apparently based on leaks about Smith’s investigation, begin circulating.

June 1

The House Judiciary Committee begins investigating whether bias in the FBI, revealed in Special Counsel John Durham’s May 15 report, has tainted Smith’s investigations of Trump. Garland was given until June 15 to respond to inquiries from the committee chair, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

June 2

The DOJ announces that its investigation into possible mishandling of documents found at the home of Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, is concluded without filing charges against Pence.

June 4

Countering other reports predicting Trump’s imminent indictment in the documents probe, a former Trump lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, tells NBC News’ “Meet The Press” questions whether such a prosecution would make sense.

June 5

Speculation about the documents investigation nearing a conclusion goes into overdrive after two events.

Three Trump attorneys–Lindsey Halligan, John Rowley, and James Trusty—are seen leaving DOJ headquarters in Washington. They had been inside for about two hours.

Also, sources told NBC News that a Smith-convened Washington grand jury, which had been taking a break, reportedly was back in session.

June 6

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demands that the DOJ produce “unredacted” records about Smith’s probe into the Trump documents case.

In a series of Truth Social posts, couched as “tirades” by some media, Trump accuses the FBI and DOJ of being “Marxists and fascists” for going after him in the documents case. He also compares how differently the federal government has responded to document concerns surrounding Pence and Biden.

June 7

Taylor Budowich, a former Trump aide who continues supporting the former president via a political action committee, confirms via Twitter that he testified to a grand jury to meet his legal obligation. Budowich said he remains determined to help propel Trump back into the White House. “America has become a sick and broken nation—a decline led by Joe Biden and power hungry Democrats,” Budowich writes. “I will not be intimidated by this weaponization of government. For me, the need to unite our nation and make America great again has never been more clear than it is today. That starts with re-electing President Donald J. Trump, a purpose I will not be deterred from pursuing.”

News reports indicate that two grand juries, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Miami, have been meeting in connection with Smith’s probes of Trump. It was unclear why dual grand juries are apparently involved.

Trump posts on Truth Social: “Wow, this is turning out to be the greatest & most vicious instance of election interference in the history of our country.” He points out that he is leading both Biden and his nearest Republican rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in opinion polls. “Perhaps most importantly, they are launching all of the many fake investigations against me right smack in the middle of my campaign, something which is unheard of [and is] not supposed to happen.” He ends by labeling the DOJ, FBI and other persecutors “fascists.”

Shortly thereafter, as reports circulate that the DOJ has told him or his lawyers that he would be indicted, Trump posts: “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done nothing wrong.” But he has been “a target of the weaponized DOJ & FBI.” He says the agencies are committing “a travesty of justice and election interference at a level never seen before.” Trump then urges Republicans in Congress to make this their top concern.

June 8

Trump calls for the DOJ to shut down the case against him and for the Inspector General to investigate the DOJ for prosecutorial misconduct. He alleges that top prosecutors tried to bribe and intimidate an attorney into getting a witness to fabricate stories against Trump. Trump also said a federal prosecutor promised another lawyer a judgeship in the Biden administration if his client would “flip” on Trump.

Trump later says his lawyers have informed him of the indictment. The president wrote on Truth Social that he has been summoned to appear in court in Miami on June 13.

Source: The Epoch Times

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Deagel’s 2025 Depopulation Forecast is on Target due to Millions of Excess Deaths, Infertility & huge surge in Child Deaths due to ‘Covid’ Fake Vaccination | David Icke

A controversial forecast by Deagel, a global intelligence and consulting firm, recently gained attention for its startling prediction of a significant depopulation event by 2025. While initially dismissed as a speculative estimation, current events and emerging trends have led many to question whether there may be more to Deagel’s forecast than meets the eye.

Recent reports from the Governments of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and various European countries have brought forth troubling revelations, among which is confirmation of a staggering number of excess deaths, reaching over two million since the mass roll-out of Covid-19 injections.

A troubling 120,000 excess deaths have also been recorded among the USA’s infants, children and young adults as of week 40 of 2022, and a curious rise in excess deaths among children across Europe has been recorded ever since the European Medicines Agency (EMA) extended the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer Covid-19 injection to children in the middle of 2021.

With further Government figures confirming mortality rates are highest among the vaccinated in every single age group per 100,000 population, serious questions are now being raised about the accuracy and potential truth behind Deagel’s apocalyptic depopulation predictions.

What is Deagel?
The Deagel corporation is a minor branch of US military intelligence, one of the many secretive organizations which collect data for high-level decision-making purposes and prepares confidential briefing documents for agencies like the National Security Agency, the United Nations, and the World Bank.

It is known to have contributed to a Stratfor report on North Korea. With this kind of pedigree, Deagel should be seen as a legitimate player in the intelligence community and not merely a disinformation asset.

This means its population predictions for 2025, as well as its industrial output predictions on a nation-by-nation basis, are not mere fantasy but instead based on strategic assumptions which are shared and well understood by other players in the intelligence community.

What has Deagel Predicted?
Deagel.com’s [infamous] 2025 forecast was removed from their website sometime in 2020. However, thanks to the Wayback Machine / Internet Archive, we are able to view the original predictions before discovered by critical thinkers.

Deagel predicted in 2020 that the United Kingdom would see its population decline by 77.1% by the year 2025. Deagel predicted in 2020 that the United States would see its population decline by 68.5 % by the year 2025. Read more…

Source: David Icke & Expose News

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IAEA issues warning about Europe’s largest nuclear plant | RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

The UN is sending more observers to Zaporozhye after the Kakhovka dam disasterIAEA issues warning about Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

It is “critical” for the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant to have continued access to water in order to prevent a reactor meltdown, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.

Europe’s largest atomic power station relies on the Kakhovka reservoir for water to cool its six reactors. However, the water levels have dropped by 2.8 meters since the Kakhovka dam broke early on Tuesday. Once the water level is below 12.7 meters, the ZNPP will no longer be able to pump water from the reservoir, Grossi warned.

“As the full extent of the dam’s damage remains unknown, it is not possible to predict if and when this might happen,” the IAEA director said, but at the current rate of 5-7 centimeters per hour, that could be “within the next two days.”

ZNPP is building up water reserves while it still can, Grossi noted, citing reports from the IAEA experts who are on site. He intends to visit ZNPP next week and bring additional observers to strengthen the agency’s presence at the facility.

“Now more than ever, the IAEA’s reinforced presence at the [ZNPP] is of vital importance to help prevent the danger of a nuclear accident and its potential consequences for the people and the environment at a time of increased military activity in the region,” Grossi said.

The possible loss of the plant’s main source of cooling water further complicates an already extremely difficult and challenging nuclear safety and security situation.

The Zaporozhye NPP is Europe’s largest atomic power station, with six reactor cores capable of generating a gigawatt of electricity each. Russian troops have controlled it since March last year. The region in which it is located voted to join Russia in September 2022, though Ukraine claims it is illegally occupied.

READ MORE: China worried about potential nuclear catastrophe

Russia has accused Ukraine of destroying the Kakhovka dam and causing widespread flooding in Kherson Region. President Vladimir Putin called it a “barbaric act”amounting to terrorism. Moscow says that Kiev is trying to secure the flank of its forces so it can bring up reserves after a series of failed assaults on the Zaporozhye front.

The IAEA deployed an observer mission at the ZNPP in September 2022. Prior to that, the station and its environs had been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian artillery, which Kiev admitted at one point. Just before the IAEA mission arrived, Ukrainian commandos also attempted to seize the facility but were driven back. Russia has provided evidence of Ukrainian attacks to the UN, which has stubbornly avoided assigning blame.

In part due to the Ukrainian artillery activity, five of the six reactors at ZNPP have been shut down, with one continuing to operate at a low level to maintain power to the facility. They all require continued cooling to prevent a fuel meltdown and possible radioactive release.

Source: RT

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Some of Nation’s Largest Pediatric Hospitals Will No Longer Offer Children Gender Modification | The Epoch Times

By Darlene McCormick Sanchez

New Texas law could impact thousands of young people who want to change.

Potentially thousands of Texas children seeking to change their gender identity will no longer have access to puberty blockers, sterilization, and permanently disfiguring “gender-transition” surgeries in the state under a new law signed by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott.

The Republican governor signed Senate Bill 14 on June 2, making the Lone Star State the most populous state to prohibit sex-change “treatments” for children. 

The new law stands to be a major roadblock for advocates of transgender medicine.

Epoch Times Photo
Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. (Courtesy of Texas Children’s Hospital via Google Maps)

It will stop the nation’s largest pediatric healthcare provider, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, from offering “gender-modification” procedures to minors.

And it will prohibit three more of the country’s largest pediatric hospitals from offering services to children who want to change their gender.

Both Texas Children’s Hospital, with 973 beds, and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, with 490 beds, currently offer gender-altering services to youths.

Halting Surgeries in Texas

The new law just signed by Abbott bans surgeries that sterilize children by removing parts of their reproductive systems. It outlaws mastectomies for girls hoping to live more like boys.

It disallows the prescribing of drugs that induce temporary or permanent infertility, such as cross-sex hormones. And it prohibits removing any otherwise healthy or non-diseased body part.

The Lone Star State joins 17 other states now restricting “gender transitioning” for children. The Texas law will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Almost 30,000 Texas teens—from age 13 through 17—likely have a “gender identity” different from their biological sex, according to a study by the Williams Institute, part of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law.

And nearly one in five people in the United States who identify as transgender are minors as young as 13, the study says.

Under the new law, children in Texas currently on hormones for gender dysphoria will have to be weaned off those drugs.

Epoch Times Photo
Police face pro-transgender protesters outside of Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., on Sept. 18, 2022. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Doctors who perform gender modification on children stand to lose their medical licenses in Texas. The bill gives the Texas attorney general the ability to enforce the law.

The Republican-led effort to pass SB 14—a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican—met stiff resistance from Democrats as it was debated in May.

GOP advocates of the bill said cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and surgery could cause irrevocable health problems or sterility in children.

Their Democrat counterparts argued that the decision to put children on hormone treatment and surgery should be left to parents, their children, and doctors.

Journalist Chris Rufo, an outspoken opponent of “woke” gender ideology and gender modification for children, posted an undated internal emailfrom Texas Children’s Hospital CEO Mark Wallace on Twitter in May.

‘Immensely Heart-Wrenching’

In the email, Wallace announced an “immensely heart-wrenching” transition to modify “gender-affirming care” offered to children.

Epoch Times Photo
Protesters at Matt Walsh’s “Rally to End Child Mutilation” hold signs advocating for transgender rights in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21, 2022. (Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times)

Action will be taken over the next few months to comply with the new law that will “prohibit procedures and prescription treatments for gender transitioning, gender reassignment, and gender dysphoria” for children, Wallace wrote.

He wrote that the hospital would “work with patients and their families to manage the discontinuation of hormone therapies or source appropriate care outside of Texas.”

And the hospital, he wrote, will “continue to offer psychosocial support and any form of care we can within the bounds of the law” through “this adversity.”

He said staff would “navigate these next steps together with grace, love, and compassion.”

Wallace wrote that he wanted to “remind everyone that our mission is to create a healthier future for all children.”

He wrote that “being unable to serve and support these children and families the way we have in the past is painful,” and that the hospital would “remain dedicated to educating and amplifying the importance of safe, high-quality transgender medicine programs.”

And he asked for support, empathy, and care for children, families, and “care teams who are deeply affected by this new legislation.” He wrote that he wanted to “reassure care teams” who “have devoted their lives to gender-affirming care” that they are “deeply valued.”

Epoch Times Photo
Texas lawmakers debated banning gender modification for children at the Capitol in Austin in May 2023. (Courtesy of the Texas Legislature)

Another large hospital, Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, will have to stop treating hundreds of minors with hormone “therapy.” 

The hospital, part of the Children’s Health System of Texas, operates a gender clinic in conjunction with UT Southwestern Medical Center, also in Dallas. 

The clinic, started by Dr. Ximena Lopez in 2014, is called the GENder Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support (GENECIS) program. 

Lopez, a pediatric endocrinologist, has said publicly that she will close her practice in July and move to California because of the new law. 

State lawmakers, including Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, have been pushing to ban transgender medical procedures for children for the past two years.

Paxton now has been replaced by an interim attorney general while he awaits a trial in the Texas Senate after being impeached by the Texas House. 

Paxton has denounced the impeachment as based on untrue allegations that are politically motivated. 

Epoch Times Photo
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Before his current problems, Paxton was part of a campaign to apply enough political pressure to hamstring GENECIS in November 2021, when the clinic was closed to new patients.

The clinic was allowed to continue seeing existing patients.

After Lopez filed a lawsuit in March 2022 seeking to fully reopen the clinic, a Dallas judge issued a temporary order, allowing the clinic to continue seeing new patients until the case could be settled in court.

A request for comment from Southwestern Medical Center on the status of the GENECIS clinic was not immediately returned.

Local news outlets reported that 100 families with children signed up for care as soon as the clinic reopened.

Do No Harm

Epoch Times Photo
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, board chairman of Do No Harm. (Courtesy of Do No Harm)

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb is chairman of the board for Do No Harm, a group that fights “radical” ideologies in medicine.

Texas’ new law is significant because it affects large treatment centers for transgender youth, Goldfarb told The Epoch Times.

Children who are confused about their gender need mental health care instead of surgeries or hormones, Goldfarb said.

“The vast, vast majority of these children bring with them a tremendous burden of psychological difficulty,” he said.

“I hope [the hospitals] pivot to the right kind of care for these children.”

Some pediatric hospitals operate on the theory that the reason children with gender dysphoria have psychological problems is because they haven’t had a chance to change their gender, he said.

Once the children are allowed to transition to a different gender, advocates think the psychological problems experienced by these children will go away, he added.

But evidence from several studies suggests that the opposite happens, he said.

“The literature doesn’t show their psychological problems will go away.”

Source: The Epoch Times

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‘Death Sentence for Millions’: WHO, EU Launch New Global Vaccine Passport Initiative | Children’s Health Defense

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

Technology expert Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D., told The Defender that, under the guise of preserving freedom, a digital passport system “means restraints on movement and living for the unvaccinated and forced vaccination to participate in life.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission — the executive branch of the European Union (EU) — on Monday launched a “landmark digital health partnership” marking the beginning of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) to promote a global interoperable digital vaccine passport.

Beginning this month, the WHO will adopt the EU’s system of digital COVID-19 certification “to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from on-going and future health threats, including pandemics,” according to Monday’s announcements by the WHO and the European Commission.

The WHO and European Commission claim the GDHCN initiative, which has been in the works since 2021, “will develop a wide range of digital products to deliver better health for all.”

The organizations said the WHO will not collect individuals’ personal data via these digital passports — stating that such data collection “would continue to be the exclusive domain of governments.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the new agreement:

“Building on the EU’s highly successful digital certification network, WHO aims to offer all WHO Member States access to an open-source digital health tool, which is based on the principles of equity, innovation, transparency and data protection and privacy.

“New digital health products in development aim to help people everywhere receive quality health services quickly and more effectively.”

However, experts who spoke with The Defender said the ramifications of such a system for human liberty and freedom of movement raised concerns.

Independent journalist James Roguski told The Defender the WHO is not waiting for a successful conclusion of these negotiations in order to implement initiatives such as a global digital vaccine passport. He said:

“The announcement by the WHO and the European Commission regarding the launch of their digital health partnership was hardly a surprise. Over a month ago, the WHO quietly published that they were working on ‘operationalizing’ the very things that were being ‘negotiated.’

“This is just one example that clearly shows that the super-secret ‘negotiations’ regarding the International Health Regulations (IHR) are a charade.”

Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D., author of “Google Archipelago: The Digital Gulag and the Simulation of Freedom,” told The Defender that, under the guise of preserving freedom, a digital passport system “means restraints on movement and living for the unvaccinated and forced vaccination to participate in life.”

The announcement of the WHO-European Commission collaboration came just days after the conclusion of the WHO’s annual World Health Assembly (WHA).

While the pandemic treaty and IHR amendments were not finalized at this year’s meeting, high-level WHO officials warned of the risk of a future pandemic and spread of a deadly “Disease X,” and expressed the need to “restrict personal liberties” during a future health emergency.

The EU has been a strong proponent of digital vaccine passports, first launched for its member states in late 2020 — concurrent with the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines — under the name “Green Pass.” The EU’s experience with the digital passes is noted in Monday’s announcement, which states:

“One of the key elements in the European Union’s work against the COVID-19 pandemic has been digital COVID-19 certificates. To facilitate free movement within its borders, the EU swiftly established interoperable COVID-19 certificates.

“Based on open-source technologies and standards it allowed also for the connection of non-EU countries that issue certificates … becoming the most widely used solution around the world.”

Roguski told The Defender the EU also was among the strongest proponents of vaccine passports during ongoing negotiations for the WHO’s “pandemic treaty” and amendments to the IHR.

“They really want the global digital health certificate,” Roguski told The Defender in March. “Primarily, that’s coming from the European Union.”

‘Pandemic passports a death sentence for millions’

According to Roguski, the EU, during negotiations for the IHR amendments, put forth proposals that seek to “‘normalize’ the implementation of a global digital health certificate.”

The Czech Republic called for Passenger Locator Forms “containing information concerning traveller’s destination,” preferably in digital form, for the purpose of contact tracing.

They also proposed that the WHO’s Health Assembly “may adopt, in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO] … and other relevant organisations, the requirements that documents in digital or paper form shall fulfill with regard to interoperability of information technology platforms, technical requirements of health documents, as well as safeguards to reduce the risk of abuse and falsification.”

The WHO lists ICAO as an officially recognized “stakeholder.”

The Czech Republic and the EU proposed documentation not just for vaccination, but “test certificates and recovery certificates” in cases “where a vaccine or prophylaxis has not yet been made available for a disease in respect of which a public health emergency of international concernhas been declared.”

Plans for the WHO’s GDHCN have been in the works since at least August 2021, when the WHO released a document titled “Digital documentation of COVID-19 certificates: vaccination status: technical specifications and implementation guidance, 27 August 2021.”

The GDHCN framework made its way onto the agenda of this year’s WHA, which stated:

“The Secretariat has developed SMART (Standards-based, Machine-readable, Adaptive, Requirements-based, and Testable) Guidelines on the digital documentation of COVID-19 certificates, comprising recommendations on the data, digital functionality, ethics, and trust architecture needed to ensure the interoperability of immunization and health records globally.”

The WHO also announced the successful completion of a “technical feasibility study for establishing a federated global trust network, which tested the ability to interoperate the health content and trust networks across existing regional efforts.”

EU officials have frequently praised themselves over the launch of the bloc’s “Green Pass,” touting how individuals’ privacy would be protected on the app. The introduction of the “Green Pass” was accompanied by statements by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for a “discussion” on mandatory vaccinations in the EU.

One of the EU’s stated priorities as part of its 2019-2024 five-year plan is to create a “Digital Identity for all Europeans.” Namely, each EU citizen and resident would have access to a “personal digital wallet,” which would include national ID cards, birth and medical certificates, and drivers’ licenses.

These proposals and initiatives appear to be closely aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular, Target 16.9, which calls for the provision of a digital legal identity for all, including newborns, by 2030.

Tedros said the SDGs are “our north star,” while addressing this year’s WHA.

Rectenwald called “pandemic passports” a “death sentence for millions.” He told The Defender:

“Despite the studies demonstrating that vaccines to curb pandemics have been deadly and useless, the WHO is doubling down on vaccine mandates.

“Pandemic passports equal a death sentence for millions and the abrogation of rights for the non-compliant. The WHO should be stopped before it completes the construction of a global totalitarian system.”

Source: Children’s Health Defense & The Countersignal

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TUCKER CARLSON: Democrats think Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the face of extremism | Fox News

Tucker takes a closer look at the Democratic Party’s treatment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Sometimes you wonder just how filthy and dishonest our news media are. We’ll be in the shower and you’ll think they’re bad, but how bad are they? 

Well, here’s one measure of their badness. You can try this at home. Ask yourself, is any news organization you know of so corrupt that it’s willing to hurt you on behalf of its biggest advertisers? Anyone who’d do that is obviously Pablo Escobar level corrupt and should not be trusted. What would that look like? That level of corruption? 

Well, imagine that the Trump administration had made it mandatory for American citizens to buy MyPillow. That’s one of Fox News’s biggest advertisers. Imagine the administration declared that if you didn’t rush out and buy at least one MyPillow and then at least another booster pillow, you would not be allowed to eat out. You couldn’t reenter your own country. You couldn’t have a paying job. MyPillow, they told you with a straight face, was the very linchpin of our country’s public health system.  

Now, imagine as they told you that that Fox as a news organization endorsed it, amplified the government’s message. Imagine if Fox News attacked anyone who refused to buy MyPillow as an ally of Russia as an enemy of science and then imagine that Fox kept up those libelous attacks, even as evidence mounted that MyPillow caused heart attacks, fertility problems and death. If Fox News did that, what would you think of Fox News? Would you trust us? Of course, you wouldn’t. You would know that we were liars.  

Thank heavens Fox News never did anything like that, but the other channels did. The other channels took hundreds of millions of dollars from Big Pharma companies and then they shelled for their sketchy products on the air and as they did that, they maligned anyone who was skeptical of those products. At the very least, this was a moral crime. It was disgusting, but it was universal. It happened across the American news media. They all did it. 

So, at this point, the question isn’t who in public life is corrupt? Too many to count. The question is who is telling the truth? There are not many of those. One of them is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Robert Kennedy knew early that the COVID vaccines were both ineffective and potentially dangerous and he said so in public to the extent he was allowed. Science has since proven Robert f. Kennedy Jr. right. Unequivocally right.

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But Kennedy was not rewarded for this. He was vilified. He was censored because he dared to criticize their advertisers, the news media called Bobby Kennedy a Nazi, and then they attacked his family, but he kept doing it. He was not intimidated and we were glad he wasn’t. This is one of those moments when it’s nice to have a truth teller around. It’s helpful because suddenly the stakes are very high. 

Considering what’s happening in Ukraine, a topic most of us don’t know much about because the details are not reported. It was a year ago that every media outlet in the United States, from USA Today to the New York Times told you it was a dangerous conspiracy theory to believe the U.S. government had ever funded secret biolabs in Ukraine. The idea was ridiculous. In fact, it was Russian disinformation

And then one day in sworn testimony, Toria Nuland of the State Department accidentally admitted that it was true. Yes, she said there are many secret biolabs in Ukraine and “We are now, in fact, quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of them.”  

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Wait a second, you may be wondering, why does the U.S. government maintain secret biolabs in a primitive country like Ukraine? Why not Austria? Why Ukraine? And why didn’t we dismantle and remove the secret biolabs when the war with Russia started? Nobody ever explained that this show was attacked for asking the question. 

Now we have learned that actually it is far worse than just biolabs. Not only has the Biden administration been maintaining these labs in Ukraine in the middle of a war, it also has “sensitive nuclear technology” in Ukraine as well and no, we’re not making that up. They admitted it today. Watch.  

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: While Ukrainian staff are still operating the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, it does fall under the control of Russian armed forces and is currently being managed by Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom. So, this is a significant concern. Essentially, in this letter that has been reviewed by CNN, sent by the U.S. Department of Energy to Rosatom, the U.S. government has essentially warned Moscow not to touch this up region nuclear power plant because of this sensitive American nuclear technology at the plant. 

So many questions here, but I’ll begin with the biggest one. What exactly is “sensitive American nuclear technology?” Sensitive American nuclear technology? Probably not to produce energy. No one in the media is going to ask that question, but if it’s in the middle of Ukraine, in the middle of a war, it stands to reason this sensitive American nuclear technology has military applications. In other words, these are nuclear weapons. What else could they be? We’ll stop speculating there, but take three steps back. This is all so crazy and so reckless, it is hard to believe it’s happening.  

Here you have a Democratic president gone completely off the rails, completely with existentially dangerous consequences, prosecuting a war that can only hurt the United States – a war with no upside. It is awful to watch, but it is not without precedent. 

Something similar happened 55 years ago in 1968, another remarkably turbulent and ugly year in American history that has many parallels to this. That spring in March of 1968, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., the former attorney general, the brother to the slain president, announced his candidacy against the incumbent fellow Democrat, Lyndon Johnson and the overriding issue then, as now, was a pointless war then in progress. This is from Robert Kennedy Sr.’s announcement:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at an event where he announced his run for president on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, in Boston. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds) (AP )

ROBERT F. KENNEDY SR: I am announcing today my candidacy for the presidency of the United States. I run to seek new policies, policies to end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities, policies to close the gaps that now exist between Black and White, between rich and poor, between young and old in this country and around the rest of the world. I run for the presidency because I want the Democratic Party and the United States of America to stand for hope instead of despair, for reconciliation of man, instead of the growing risk of world war.  

To be clear, Robert F. Kennedy was not against all war on principle. He was against that war because he believed with a lot of evidence, that it was not helping the United States in any way, but you weren’t allowed to say that. He did. Party bosses hated him for that, but rank and file Democrats loved him. They put pictures of his face in their homes like icons. In the end, they named a football stadium after him in Washington. That was more than half a century ago. He was, of course, murdered in June of that year, but now Kennedy’s son is embarking on a similar challenge to his own party and for similar reasons. Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced today that he’s running for president in the primary against Joe Biden. Here’s part of what he said.  

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR: We were told initially that the objective was humanitarian. Many of the steps that we’ve taken in the Ukraine have seemed to indicate that our interest is in prolonging the war rather than shortening it. So, if those are objectives, to have regime change and exhaust the Russians out is completely antithetical to a humanitarian mission. 

That’s supposed to be the face of extremism, but that’s not extreme. It’s rational and calm and well deliberated. Bobby Kennedy himself is not extreme. He is deeply insightful and above all, he is honest. No matter what you think of the substance of what he says. 

Here, for example, is his recent analysis of the Biden administration’s foreign policy. Big picture: “The collapse of U.S. influence over Saudi Arabia and the kingdom’s new alliances with China and Iran are painful emblems of the abject failure of the neocon strategy of maintaining U.S. global hegemony with aggressive projections of military power. China has displaced the American Empire by deftly projecting instead economic power. Over the past decade, our country has spent trillions bombing roads, ports, bridges and airports. China has spent the equivalent building the same across the developing world. The Ukraine war is the final collapse of the neocon short lived American century.”  

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Now, you may agree with that analysis. Maybe you don’t. Either way, if you’re an honest person, you understand this is exactly the moment in our history when we need serious adult conversations about the world around us, a world that is changing to our detriment and how we ought to respond to those changes. 

Bobby Kennedy would love to have those conversations. He’s not running to get rich. He’s trying to make things better, but he’s not allowed to have those conversations. He’s been censored. Other media won’t even talk to him. He criticized their advertisers. Here was the reaction on television today:

JOHN KING, CNN: The anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr has filed paperwork to run for president as a Democrat in 2024. 

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN: You see it on Fox News. You see it from Joe Rogan. You hear it from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. There are a lot of dangerous people out there who are not accepting the fact that these vaccines protect people from dying from COVID.  

KURT ANDERSEN, AUTHOR ON MSNBC:  I’ve written for years about Robert Kennedy and other liberals who are absurd in their anti-vaccine, anti-science activities. 

JOY REID, MSNBC: People like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the people with big platforms that are using them to be anti-mask and anti-vax. 

He’s extreme. He’s dangerous, said one. Notice, not there, not anywhere is a point-by-point rebuttal of his actual points. They never engage him on the facts. They can’t. They would lose. Instead, they impugn his character. Now, that man they call dangerous is Joe Biden’s leading primary opponent and their view remains the same. Shut up. You’re not allowed to talk. 

We disagree with that. We’re not Democrats, but Bobby Kennedy is one of the most remarkable people we have ever met, and we are honored to have him on our show.

Source: Tucker Carlson Tonight

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TUCKER CARLSON: Is artificial intelligence dangerous to humanity? | Fox News

AI is often misrepresented, Tucker Carlson argues

Artificial intelligence is one of those topics that’s just spooky and sci-fi enough to make for a compelling television segment. They love it on the morning shows.

But at the same time, A.I. is complex enough that it’s easy to misrepresent. It sounds like something that could be revolutionary, even dangerous to humanity. But is it? If it is, what should we do about it?  

ELON MUSK TO DEVELOP ‘TRUTHGPT’ AS HE WARNS ABOUT ‘CIVILIZATIONAL DESTRUCTION’ FROM AI 

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Those questions are significant enough that we wanted to find someone who could provide a definitive answer. Elon Musk seemed like the right person. Musk has been thinking about AI and worrying about it for most of his life. Nearly a decade ago, he helped found a nonprofit research project called OpenAI, and the point was in the name. If we’re going to have artificial intelligence and apparently we are, it ought to be open, open to the world. That would help ensure that it’s used for good and not evil. That was the idea.

But as the years passed and Musk found himself preoccupied building a couple of enormous companies, SpaceX and Tesla, OpenAI got away from him.   

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As of tonight, Open A.I. is no longer open. It’s not a nonprofit research project dedicated to using artificial intelligence to serve humanity. It is instead a commercial enterprise backed by Microsoft and controlled to some extent by the Democratic Party. 

Elon Musk thinks that’s a problem. In fact, he believes it’s a threat to human civilization, tantamount to, maybe even more terrifying than thermonuclear weapons. The conversation you’re about to see took place recently in a hotel room in Los Angeles. We think it’s important enough that we’re going to play the entire thing for you over the course of tonight and tomorrow.

Source: Tucker Carlson Tonight

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The CIA’s Sinister ‘Transparency Plan’ for JFK Files | JFK Facts Substack

The clandestine service is quietly seeking to gut the JFK Records Act

The website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), where all files in the JFK Collection are housed, now features links to official documentation on a new process governing disclosure of records related to the JFK assassination that is not written into law and not approved by Congress.

By publishing these materials on behalf of executive branch agencies still in control of such files, the National Archives is helping the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency (NSA) and others to evade their legal obligations under the JFK Records Act, passed unanimously by Congress in 1992. 

The Act already sets the conditions for disclosure of JFK files. The CIA’s ill-named “Transparency Plan” connives to replace the will of Congress with the priorities of the secret intelligence agencies. And the National Archives is helping them do it. 

Having blown the statutory deadline written into the JFK Records Act four times in six years, the CIA and other federal agencies are now seeking to eliminate the deadline altogether. Here’s how the bureaucratic sleight of hand works.

Source: JFK Facts Substack

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Who Owns the Most Gold Privately? Notable Gold Investors | The Epoch Times

By Oxford Gold Group

Have you ever wondered who owns the most gold privately? The gold industry is thriving, as this yellow metal is highly coveted and a safe haven investment that usually appreciates over the long term. However, there’s only a finite supply of gold in the world. So, who are the individuals and families that own the most holdings of gold in the world? Below, we’ll tell you about the most prominent gold investors with privately owned reserves, notable advocates for gold IRAs, and how private gold ownership affects gold market prices.

Private Owners

John Paulson
John Paulson is an American hedge fund manager and billionaire famous for having one of the world’s biggest privately owned gold reserves. He’s also well known for predicting the 2007 mortgage financial crisis and has made headlines for his mammoth-sized gold holdings through his firm, Paulson & Co. As the central banks start to buy more gold in response to the devaluation of fiat currencies, Paulson has been a vocal advocate for investing in physical gold bullion.

Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is another of the most famous gold buyers and owns one of the largest private gold reserves in the world. He’s the founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, which manages $150 billion in assets. In the second quarter of 2020, Bridgewater Associates invested $400 million in gold holdings, including exchange-traded funds with the SPDR Gold Trust and the iShares Gold Trust.

Indian Families
Indian households have some of the largest gold reserves in the world. Most of these are in the form of gold jewelry, which is primarily for weddings and Diwali festivals. Indian families (not including what the banking system owns) have roughly 25,000–27,000 tons of gold. The most exciting fact is that a significant portion of these gold reserves is held by the rich and throughout the caste system.

Stanley Druckenmiller
Stanley Druckenmiller is a legend in the investing world. Like John Paulson, he predicted in 2005 that the Federal Reserve would trigger a housing crisis and economic collapse. In 2015, he had more than $292 million in exposure to the SPDR Gold Trust.

Eric Sprott
Another of the world’s most prominent investors in gold is Eric Sprott. He’s a Canadian who has invested vast amounts of money in precious metals, including gold mining and exploration companies like Labrador Gold, Benchmark Metals, Ethos Gold, and New Age Metals.

The Royal Family of Saudi Arabia
The royal family of Saudi Arabia is well known for being unimaginably wealthy and having some of the largest gold reserves in the world. They’re lavish spenders, with a reported net worth of approximately $1.4 trillion.

How Much Gold Is There in the World?

The World Gold Council reports an estimated 208,874 metric tons of gold mined worldwide. Even knowing that, it’s impossible to estimate how much gold in the world remains. While there is plenty, much of this physical gold is too deep to mine. Experts estimate that at a rate of 3,000 metric tons per year, the world’s currently accessible gold will have all been mined in less than 18 years unless new mines are discovered.

Some of the Most Notable Advocates for the Gold IRA

Peter Schiff
Peter Schiff successfully advocates the precious metals industry and gold IRAs (individual retirement accounts). He founded SchiffGold and still serves as honorary chairman since he sold the company in 2016 to Goldmoney. He considers precious metals, like gold IRAs, safe haven investments to hedge against inflation and the rapid weakening of our country’s currency.

James Rickards
James Rickards is another advocate for investing in gold and precious metal IRAs. He is an investor, advisor, and lawyer who frequently lectures on why Americans should buy gold and allocate about 10 percent of their wealth portfolio to precious metal investments. He was also the primary negotiator for the Federal Reserve when it rescued Long-Term Capital Management.

Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki is an American investor and the founder of the Rich Dad Company. He has long been a proponent of investing in physical gold and gold IRAs. He’s a financial advisor who aims to help people achieve financial independence through wise investing.

Laith Alsarraf
Another of the most prominent gold investors and advocates for precious metals and gold IRAs is Laith Alsarraf, who founded Birch Gold Group. He believes in empowering people and financial strength through knowledge, and is one of the most well-respected businessmen in the IRA industry.

Which Countries and National Governments Have the Largest Gold Reserves?

Which countries can claim to have all the gold? The U.S. Federal Reserve has the highest gold reserves in the world, thanks to its switch from the gold standard a few decades ago, when citizens could redeem national currency for gold. Our country’s gold reserves are around 8,133.5 metric tons. Furthermore, 75 percent of its foreign reserves are in gold as well. However, other countries also have significant gold reserves in their possession.

Second on the list is Germany, with 3,359 metric tons of gold. German investors are also rapidly investing in more gold than in previous years and are becoming some of the largest global investors in gold.

In the third position is Italy, with 2,452 metric tons. Other countries with large gold reserves include China, France, and Russia. Interestingly enough, the United States is considering freezing Russian gold reserves over the war in Ukraine. The World Bank reports that the International Monetary Fund also has some of the largest national assets, with official gold holdings at around 90.5 million ounces. The European Central Bank has also been buying more gold reserves, with about €26 billion invested in 2021.

Why Do Some Individuals Choose to Hold Gold Privately?

Is there a benefit to buying private gold instead of government-backed bullion? While the primary advantage of government bullion is its security and stability, it’s also far more expensive, mainly if it’s collectible. Unfortunately, that premium comes in the form of extra fees.

With private gold, investors can avoid those extra costs and use the money to purchase more bullion instead. Government bullion has a guarantee, so investors know their gold’s precise weight and purity, unlike private purchases. However, as long as you take the time to verify the seller and the quality of your gold before you purchase it, you can enjoy the benefits of private gold ownership while avoiding the extra expense of collector’s fees.

How Does Private Gold Ownership Affect Gold Prices?

If someone has a large privately owned gold reserve, does that affect the price of gold? Of course, as only a finite amount of gold is left in the world, the price will increase once supplies begin to dwindle, according to the law of supply and demand. While private ownership can affect gold prices if individuals buy enough gold to affect the supply, it’s not the only factor that impacts prices.

The availability of gold imports also affects prices, as developing countries that mine the metal often have supply-chain issues due to political reasons like civil war. A nation with a slightly weakened currency can also impact the export industry, increasing it by a large margin. In addition, factors like inflation, the central bank actions, and the mining industry also affect prices. Historically, when the stock market and paper assets decrease, the price of gold increases. Not all gold reserves in the central banks are legal, however. Illegally sourced gold has been a big problem and is another factor influencing spot prices.

Source: The Epoch Times

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The Democrat Party Reportedly Received Half Its Donations from Unemployed Americans, Many Are Elderly Voters Whose Identities May Have Been Stolen – Where’s the Money Really Coming From? | The Gateway Pundit

By Joe Hoft

This report brings together corrupt and criminal actions by the Democrat Party ignored by the GOP, the mainstream media, and law enforcement. 

In 2020 millions were reportedly donated to BLM after George Floyd was killed.  At the same time, 20+ police were killed and American cities suffered nearly $2 billion in record damages following the George Floyd riots.

The Gateway Pundit was the first to report that ActBlue was raising money using BLM as its front group.  ActBlue is the Democrats’ funding apparatus.  We know this from our early reporting and from the fact that BLM later admitted this.  In 2022 Black Lives Matter announced in February 2022 that the organization was deactivating its fundraising pages on ActBlue.  This was after the Washington Examiner exposed that BLM was still accepting donations on the Democratic platform despite claiming it had stopped amid questions about its finances.

The Daily Caller confirmed that ActBlue was using BLM to raise money. BLM is not a recognized non-profit organization and nonprofit organization (Thousand Currents) said it provides ‘fiduciary oversight, financial management, and other administrative services’ to BLM.

Candice Owen reported on the BLM – ActBlue relationship and was targeted by a bogus fact-checker. Tom Fitton from Judicial Watch jumped in and stated that their findings confirmed what TGP and Candice Owen reported:

Thousand Currents was allegedly a non-profit organization and Susan Rosenberg served on its Board.  Susan Rosenberg was a member of the Weather Underground terrorist group, which included Obama friend Bill Ayers.  President Bill Clinton gave her a pardon on his last day in office.

So in summary contributions to BLM were funneled through ActBlue, the major resource for Democrat donations, and then funneled to at least one organization run by a member of a domestic terrorist group.

In early 2020 FOX News reported that half of all donations to ActBlue in 2019 came from “untraceable, unemployed donors.”

A  preliminary computer analysis by the Take Back Action Fund, obtained exclusively by Fox News, has found that nearly half of all 2019 donations to ActBlue were made by people claiming to be unemployed.

“After downloading hundreds of millions of [dollars in] donations to the Take Back Action Fund servers, we were shocked to see that almost half of the donations to ActBlue in 2019 claimed to be unemployed individuals,” he said. “The name of employers must be disclosed when making political donations, but more than 4.7 million donations came from people who claimed they did not have an employer. Those 4.7 million donations totaled $346 million ActBlue raised and sent to liberal causes.”

Action Fund’s President John Pudner had this to say regarding the finding:

“It is hard to believe that at a time when the U.S. unemployment rate was less than 4 percent, that unemployed people had $346 million dollars to send to ActBlue for liberal causes,” Pudner said, adding that “4.7 million donations from people without a job … raised serious concerns.”

Shortly after the report in FOX News, TGP reported that according to Real Clear Politics, ActBlue cannot confirm if donations to its website are US or foreign donations:

“When Take Back Our Republic first pointed out in 2015 that foreign interests could potentially use gift cards to flood money in through ActBlue’s unverified credit card system, more than 100 members of Congress stopped using the system and 31 Democrats joined 52 Republicans in trying to outlaw the practice,” said John Pudner, president of Take Back Action Fund.

“It took vendors only a few hours to change their setup to allow the banks to verify if donations were really from Americans,” Pudner added. “Unfortunately, as things turned harshly partisan after Trump’s election, ActBlue doubled down and moved more and more candidates onto an unverified system at a time when intelligence officials are warning that foreign interests want to impact who wins our elections. TBAF asks ActBlue to join the hundreds who have stopped using this system.”

TGP also reported that ActBlue Texas was caught paying out small sums to hundreds of individuals for unknown purposes.

Per a review of ActBlue Texas disbursements via the website TransparencyUSA.org, there are hundreds of individuals being paid by ActBlue Texas for similar small amounts (e.g. $300 or $250) who are not candidates running for office.  In total, ActBlue Texas has paid out $9.6 million in disbursements.  We have no idea who most these people are.

Could ActBlue Texas be paying rioters for their attempts to destroy American cities?  

Was this happening in other states as well?

Trending: DEVELOPING: McDonald’s Shuts US Offices, Prepares For Layoffs

This led us to ask whether China or some other foreign adversary is behind the millions in donations ActBlue labels as ‘unemployed’ individuals. 

This leads us to today.  

TGP reported yesterday that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer received a surprising large number of small-dollar donations in her 2022 campaign race – $18,469,000 from a total of 185,556 donations, averaging about $100 per donation.

Donors gave a huge number of donations, in very small amounts, to Democrat candidates around the country.  Their occupations were recorded as unemployed.  We noted this after the 2022 Election in Georgia where Senate candidate Raphael Warnock was given $24 million in over 358,000 donations.

Earlier this week, James O’Keefe and O’Keefe Media Group published a video of his visits to the homes of a small sample of these campaign finance mules in Maryland.  To his surprise, many of these donors had no idea they were making so many donations for Democrat candidates, adding up to thousands of dollars in 2022 political donations.

The donors all appeared to be over 70 years old which is why they were classified as unemployed.  It also appears as if their identities may have been stolen and used to launder money to Democrat candidates.

Evidence shows that half of Democrat donations are coming from small donations attributed to unemployed elderly voters whose identity may have been stolen.  Who is really donating to the Democrats?

Why has the Republican Party ignored this?

Democrats are obviously partaking in a donations fraud scheme.   This needs further investigation.

Source: The Gateway Pundit